Zoren: Williams, Driscoll are making their marks

Definition is the job for the area's two newest television news directors.

Anzio Williams, at Channel 10 since the summer, signaled change in December when his station passed on renewing the contracts of anchors Tim Lake, who had a 20-year tenure and more than a decade at 6 and 11 p.m., and Dawn Timmeney, who had been with the NBC outlet for 11 years and presided over newscasts at 4 and 5 p.m. when she left.

So far, Williams has not filled those spots on his talent roster. Sports director Vai Sikahema has been doing the heavy lifting in place of Lake. Tracy Davidson has been seen all over the map, including at 11 p.m., which remains primarily the TV home of Renee Chenault-Fattah.

Williams has left his mark on the tone of Channel 10's newscasts. They are calmer and more serious than they were during past regimes when high dudgeon and bragging rights ruled the day. "Channel 10 News" is now watchable from beginning to end. That is an achievement. During coverage of Hurricane Sandy, the station did as well as its competitors.

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Until a month ago, Channel 29 was rudderless in terms of news. Producers, editors, anchors, and reporters ran the newsroom almost by committee. The amazing thing is the newscasts never showed signs of chaos or the lack of an authoritative leader.

They also showed little personality or creativity. Channel 29's programs were respectable but lifeless. There was no cohesion, no style that prevailed.

Jim Driscoll has now been news director at Channel 29 for a month. No major differences in tone and presentation have been noticed in that time, but in terms of television, that time is short.

Driscoll, like Williams, has the chance to create a newscast, to give a weathered station a new and individual look. Williams appears to be going back to the basics and stressing strong reporting fundamentals. His intentions will come clearer as he hires or assigns anchors, particularly to the 11 p.m. show. Or is Sikahema a permanent fixture there?

Both news directors have some excellent people on their team to begin the next phase of their stations' news history.

For anchors, Williams has Davidson, who for years was Channel 10's keeper of journalistic standards in the face of glitz and energy for energy's sake, and Aditi Roy, whose poise and authority has always been welcome. The one downside of having Roy as an anchor is it takes her from the field, where she is a top reporter. Two more strong anchors -- one male -- are needed. One of those can be Chenault-Fattah, but Renee never seems into the news. She is an able reader and a gracious presence, but as an anchor, you want someone for whom news is supreme, and you don't see that in Chenault-Fattah.

Even in its lowest days, Channel 10 had some reporters who were like oases in the desert. Tim Furlong, once he came over from Channel 17, LuAnn Cahn, now the veteran of the NBC10 team, and Ted Greenberg could make a story work. Rosemary Connors is among the most talented and complete reporters in the market. Vince Lattanzio brings a cool factor to social media reporting his colleagues cannot muster. Doug Shimell has come and gone from Channel 10, but he remains a sturdy presence. Shimell is one who has grown as a reporter, becoming sharper and more authoritative later in his career.

Weather has long been a Channel 10 asset. It amazes me that Glenn Schwartz has been on television for decades and still has no smooth oral delivery, but Schwartz was not hired for looks or presentation. Like Francis Davis of bygone days on Channel 6, Schwartz has made a name for himself as a scientist. He knows meteorology and because of Glenn, standards for reporting weather are advanced throughout the market. Philadelphia is lucky for that standard, upheld so well by Kathy Orr at Channel 3 and Cecily Tynan at Channel 6.

With Schwartz is an able team. The new star of that team is Sheena Parveen, who like Channel 6's Adam Joseph builds a fan base that includes people who have only passing interest in the weather. Bill Henley in the morning has always been a gem. Dave Warren has matured as a broadcaster and meteorologist. Brittney Shipp is the newest member of the weather squad.

Driscoll also inherits assets. His morning team is one the best in the market, and "Good Day" will not take a lot of honing to make it the lively show it has been many times during its 16-year tenure. Mike Jerrick, Sheinelle Jones, Sue Serio, Steve Keeley, Jennaphr Frederick, and Karen Hepp, when called upon to assist, can do anything. Each of them has a broadcaster's sensibility with a newsperson's edge. By design or committee, a group of people who can speak well and entertainingly while being able to stick to a script, has been assembled. It might be the best team in the market, even better than some Channel 6 combinations, but Driscoll needs to build a tighter show around his group.

At 10 p.m., Thomas Drayton and Kerry Barrett are able anchors. The matter is finding the right tone for the reporting team, one that includes powerhouses Dave Schratwieser and Bruce Gordon, to win an audience. This is tougher now that Channel 17 is fielding what amounts to an early edition of Channel 6's "Action News" at 10.

One place where Channel 29 can dominate is sports. Ducis Rodgers is making a deep mark at Channel 6, and Beasley Reece blends knowledge, gravitas, and a sense of humor at Channel 3, but when it comes to expertise and knowing the battlefield, including where all the secrets are buried, it would be hard to deny the advantage of having Howard Eskin and Tom Sredenschek, veterans of years of sports coverage, in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Colleen Wolfe complements the team nicely.

Remembering a legend

Sally Starr called me Leo.

I don't know why. I knew her for years, and she always recognized me, but she always greeted me as Leo.

No matter. Like every Philadelphian who grew up watching Sally on Channel 6's "Popeye Theater," and like everyone who met her as an adult and got to know, and even work, with her, I adored Sally Starr.

She was my first dinner companion. My brother and I would sit in the living room behind stack tables and eat while Sally entertained us with cartoons and Three Stooges two-reelers. She did a sterling job. She made me love Popeye as well. I had a Popeye wallet, a Popeye PEZ dispenser, Popeye bubble bath, and any other goop Popeye merchandisers could foist on an eager 9-year-old. To this day, I love spinach, a taste that led to a great memory of a dinner in Venice when the waiter and I communicated better because of Popeye.

Sally's charm was her optimism and enthusiasm. Yes, she would complain at times of an ache or pain or groan over money problems, but in general, she approached all situations with a sunny outlook and a feeling all would work out and be all right. By the time I met her, Sally was in her late 50s, and she had enough experience to realize she was like a cork that would always float at the top with some times being better than others but all times being a celebration of life.

Sally reveled in having an audience, especially one that held her in such affection. Any personal appearance buoyed her. Whatever else might be going on in her life, she had her fans and their sincere adulation. She loved as much as she was loved. If there was a scale, that love would be measured in gazillions.

Growing up in Philadelphia, one was fortunate to have many TV icons -- Chief Halftown, Happy the Clown, Gene London, Pixanne, Uncle Pete, Buckskin Billy, Bertie the Bunyip -- but the most beloved, the most enduring, and the most influential of all was Sally Starr.

No one ever forgot Our Gal Sal, and no one will.

Sally Starr died last week two days after the 90th birthday. The lady has passed. Her legend remains until the last Baby Boomer from Philadelphia leaves this Earth.

'30 Rock' ends

People pass, and so, alas, do television programs.

"30 Rock," the brainchild and well-nurtured comedy of Delaware County native Tina Fey, usually had more esteem than popularity. The people who loved the NBC series loved it in heaps. Its reruns at 11 and 11:30 p.m. on Channel 17 are a staple of my day. In addition to enjoying the endless wit with which Fey endowed the show, and admiring the performances of Fey, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Tracy Morgan, and the mega-brilliant Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, I delight in seeing the various guest stars that populated the series, from regulars like Elaine Stritch and Anita Gillette, to walk-ons like Brian Williams and other NBC stars.

"30 Rock" remains a study of extreme personalities thrown together to achieve one of the hardest tasks imaginable, creating a weekly live variety show. Fey and Morgan, as veterans of "Saturday Night Live," the model for "The Tracy Jordan Show," would be well aware of that.

"30 Rock" is gone from prime time. Long may it reign in rerun syndication.

Long may Tina Fey reign as a wickedly informed entertainer who knows how to get to the core of any comic situation.